Calvary Bible Church - Pastor Ken’s Weblog

Passage for Sunday, April 27th, 2008

II Peter:2  “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.  They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.  Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

“The Danger Within”

Reading this chapter you get the impression that Peter gets a little worked up about those who attempt to mislead God’s people, don’t you?  Last week he made it very clear that Scripture is the very Word of God, and that Scripture, and that which aligns with it, is the only truth.  He dedicated his life to the advancement of the gospel, the Truth, to feed, protect and Shepherd Christ’s sheep, and he understood the danger from those who would change the gospel message to fit their own schemes and plans.  Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah, and the many Scriptural prophecies fulfilled by his birth, life, substitutionary death and resurrection support that claim.  But there were those who attempted to deny it then, as there had been in ancient times and, he says, there will continue to be.
In Jeremiah 5:30-31 the Prophet reports this chilling statement from the Lord: “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way.  But what will you do in the end?”  Not much has changed in all the time since he penned those words, has it.  Prophets, preachers, preach lies, rule by their own authority rather than submit to God’s as revealed in the Word, and the people “love it” that way.  How did Paul put it?  II Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”  Sometimes the people initiate the false teaching, sometimes the Teachers do.  Recently, one such group that subscribes to false teaching and follows a false Teacher has made quite a splash in the News.  I’m talking about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  FLDS for short, the group in Eldorado, Texas most recently under fire for their abhorrent “religious” practices, this time again accused of forced marriages between very young teenage girls and older men, marriages allegedly arranged by the Church’s “Prophet” and Elders.  The church currently practices the “law of placing,” where a young woman of marriageable age is assigned a husband by “revelation from God” to the leader of the church, who is regarded by the people as a prophet.  The prophet elects to take and give wives to and from men according to their worthiness.
FLDS is a splinter group that broke with the Mormon Church in the 1930’s over the issue of polygamy.  The Mormon Church had agreed to abandon the practice as a condition of Utah statehood in 1890.  Their current “Prophet”, Warren Jeffs, was convicted in Utah on two felony counts of accomplice to rape for his part in the 01′ marriage of a 14-year-old follower to her 19-year-old cousin.  He was sentenced to two consecutive prison terms of five years to life.  Today he sits in a cell in a Kingman Arizona jail, awaiting trial on similar charges related to two other child-bride marriages.  The power of the lie is evident in the way his followers still follow him and his teachings, and still look to him as their God appointed Prophet.  No wonder Peter was concerned.
I want to take you back to verse 19 of Chapter 1 as we begin today’s message, to give you again the context of Peter’s statement. I’m going to read through verse 3 of chapter 2:  “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.  Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.  For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (False prophets always claim their message comes from God, but if it contradicts the Word, it is a lie.  The Holy Spirit will never contradict scripture.)  “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.  They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.   Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”
Peter first establishes the veracity of the Scriptures, God’s very Word. We looked at that last week.  Having established the standard, he then warns that just as there have always been those who would mislead and twist scripture, they will continue.  His desire is to warn his readers, to help them be aware of the danger.  The battle for truth and trust in what God has said has been raging for all of recorded history.  The Enemy introduced a destructive heresy in the attack against Eve.  Listen again.  Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.  He said to the woman, “Did God really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”  First he calls into question what God really said.  He inserts the seed of doubt.  Did God “really” say…?  They use the same tactic today.  “Does the Bible really say…..?”  And then he deliberately inserts error; he denies God’s character by calling Him a liar.  Verses 4-5: “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Here is the destructive heresy Satan introduces: God lied, and is withholding something good from you.  And she chose to believe the lie.  And Adam stood there and failed to protect his wife from the attack, instead joining her in following the liar. People still do.  Satan’ tactics haven’t changed much because they don’t need to.  Why change what works?
There is one notable example of his tactic failing however.  When he tempted Jesus in the desert, he used the same basic tactics, but Jesus successfully resisted him.  He trusted in the indwelt power of the Holy Spirit (in each of the Gospel accounts the “temptation” followed His baptism and Holy Spirit anointing or indwelling) and the truth of Scripture to resist the temptation and win the battle.  Scripture was His defense against the Enemies schemes, and when the Enemy tried to use Scripture, he had to “misuse” it to attempt to make his point.  They will do the same thing today.  Jesus saw through him and told him to go away!  (Which, by the way, he did!)  He gave us the example to follow.
Drawing on the power of the indwelt Holy Spirit, knowing Scripture, and knowing when and how to use it, is our best defense against false teaching and Satan’s attacks as well.  Peter points out that the false prophets were “among the people.”  They blended in, seemed to be viable, trustworthy, were widely accepted as “one of them.”  So will the false teachers against whom we need to be on our guard.  The attack on the 21st Century Church rarely comes from outside, but begins when those inside secretly introduce destructive heresies.  There are several other warnings in Scripture for us besides Peter’s. Naturally, Jesus said it best: Matthew 24:4 “Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.”   But he wasn’t the only one.  Paul shared Peter’s awareness of the danger and mentions it several times.  Here’s just a few: Acts 20:28-31a: “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.  Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.  I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.  Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.  So be on your guard!”  One function of your church Elder Board, your Shepherd and under-shepherds, is to guard the flock against the wolves (danger from outside the church) and the sneaky sheep (danger from inside the church)!  Paul says in Colossians that he presents the word of God in its fullness, proclaiming Christ, so that no one may deceive them by fine-sounding arguments.
Knowledge of the truth is our best defense.  He goes on with this warning in 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”  Anytime the focus is on tradition or worldly principles (business strategies and numerical growth for instance) you need to be on your guard.  He really gets down on the false teachers in I Timothy 4:1-5:  “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.  They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.  For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”  Notice how it is the awareness and knowledge of truth that defend against error?
I’ll give just one more.  Paul is given a pretty bleak picture of humanity as the end comes closer, and when you hear his description you can’t help but see our world today.  II Timothy 3:1-5: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”  I can’t help but think of the cult in Texas, and the women and children caught in that trap.  Where did they first get tangled up in the lies and false teachings?  Maybe a quick look at what defines a cult will help.  I found this information at “gotquestions.org”, it’s a site I recommend.
Often in our minds we think of a cult as a group that worships Satan, sacrifices animals, and takes part in evil, bizarre, and pagan rituals.  In reality, though, most cults appear much more innocent.  The specific “Christian” definition of a cult is a religious group that denies one or more of the fundamentals of Biblical truth.  Or, in more simple terms, a cult is a group that teaches something that will cause a person to not be saved if they believe it.  In distinction from a religion, a cult is a group that claims to be Christian, yet denies an essential truth of Biblical Christianity.
The two most common teachings of cults are that Jesus was not God and that salvation is not by faith alone.  A denial of the deity of Christ results in Jesus’ death not being a sufficient payment for our sins.  A denial of salvation by faith alone results in salvation being achieved by our own works – something the Bible vehemently and consistently denies.  The two most well-known examples of cults to most of us are the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons.  Both groups claim to be Christian, yet both deny the two key doctrines I just mentioned.  Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons believe many things that are in agreement with and/or similar to what the Bible teaches.
However, the fact that they deny the deity of Christ and salvation by faith alone qualifies them as a cult.  Many Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and members of other cults are “good people” who are genuinely seeking God and genuinely believe they hold the truth.  Our hope and prayer is that many people involved in these “Christian” cults will see through the lies and will be drawn to the truth of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  The danger of cults is not so much for us, as our children and friends.  Seldom does someone leave a mainstream fundamental church to join with the Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses or cults of their like.  But our kids do.  Once away from home and the influence of their local church they are often attracted to the zeal and seeming lack of hypocrisy in these cults.   They do live their faith, oftentimes more convincingly than professing Christians.  It’s one reason why it is so important that what we profess to believe is evidenced in how we live, especially in our homes.
Our kids are watching, and they are not going to be impressed with our “religion” if they see rampant hypocrisy in our lives.  But, as Peter reminds us, the real danger comes from within.  We need to be aware of those who would “secretly introduce” destructive heresies.  We read that Satan, masquerading as the Serpent, was more crafty, variously translated as: more cunning, more subtle, sneakier, or more clever.  He seldom uses a frontal attack, but sneaks up on your blind side, ambushes you, catches you when you aren’t expecting it.  In the church it may be a new program, an idea brought forward by a trusted member, a suggestion to follow what “worked” at a different church, etc.  None of these are bad in themselves, it’s just that we need to carefully examine any changes we make.
It can be just as wrong and harmful not to make changes.  “We have always done it that way” are the seven last words of a dying church, or so the saying goes!  We may not like to hear that, but there is truth to it in certain areas.  The truth never changes, but the presentation of it often does.  Peter’s point is that the change introduced “subtly” is a destructive heresy, not simply a different look at truth.   One source defined destructive heresies as: “Divisive opinions or teachings that result in the moral and spiritual destruction of those who accept them.”  Satan’s plan is to render the church ineffective.
Division will do that, so we must guard against an introduction of opinions or teachings that divide us.  God’s will for us is unity.  John said in II John 1:7-11: “Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world.  Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.  Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.  Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.”  It’s the message that matters, not the format.  Paul, writing to the Philippians said in chapter 1:15-18a: “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.  The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.  The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.  But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached.  And because of this I rejoice.”
That’s spiritual maturity!  We get all caught up in arguing and fighting about the method, and the Enemy grins, cause we’re being divided.  But, says Peter, the false teachers are even more insidious, because they deny the sovereign Lord who bought them.  John agrees, and identifies them for us very clearly.  I John:2:21-23: “I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.  Who is the liar?  It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ.  Such a man is the antichrist–he denies the Father and the Son.  No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”  You can’t deny the Son without calling the Father a liar, and that will bring “swift destruction’ on those who do it.  Not swift in the sense of “say it today, pay for it today,” but swift as in when it comes it comes swiftly.
Peter points out several results of these false teachers and their heresies.  First of all, he says “many will follow their shameful ways.”  It seems there is no shortage of people, even in the church, looking for a way to please their own sinful appetites while pretending to serve God.  Immorality often accompanies deviant theology.
We have, as an example, once orthodox churches accepting homosexual behavior, not simply in their congregations, but in their pulpits and leadership.  Many “seeker-sensitive” churches condone, by their silence and unwillingness to confront sin, couples openly living together and raising children outside of marriage, as well as those involved in other “alternate lifestyle” choices against which Scripture clearly speaks.  By denying the Word of God they deny the God of the Word!
But, people like it, as Jeremiah pointed out earlier, and their churches are full.  Peter’s second observation is that by their behavior, they “bring the way of truth into disrepute.”  Those who call themselves “Christian” but by their beliefs and actions deny it, harm not only themselves but also all who claim the name.  The Christian faith is not simply a matter of correct doctrine but also correct living.  Peter points out one motive behind many false teachers, greed.  They are greedy either for the praise of men, or material wealth, and often both!  They abandon scripture and teach “made up” stories and doctrines to exploit those who follow them.  (Why does the word “Televangelist” come to mind?)   But Peter also points out that they won’t get away with it, at least not in the end.  Jeremiah again, remember?  Jeremiah 5:30-31: “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way.  But what will you do in the end?”  Peter says their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.  God is watching, and will bring judgment.   Although delay makes it seem that they have escaped God’s judgment, destruction is a reality that is sure to come upon them.
Remember what Paul said in Galatians 6:7-8: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”  What kind of crop are you sowing?

In His Grip,

Pastor Ken